A look of anger and bewilderment slowly spread across Billy's face. This was a look that Lee and Amanda knew all too well.
"Excuse me? Who did you say was in DC?"
"Nick Grant, Sir. We only just found out a few minutes ago. He's here at the party." Amanda replied.
"Nick Grant is here at THIS party and no one thought that it might be a good idea to keep an eye on him?"
"See, Amanda! I told you that that picture in this morning's paper was Nick! I knew it was him! See! Now look what we've got! Another mess to clean up thanks to Nick Grant!" Lee angrily snapped at Amanda.
"Whoah! Wait just a minute there, Scarecrow. Don't go yelling at me! None of this is MY fault. The picture in the paper this morning was the back of someone's head. I'm sorry if I wasn't 100% convinced that it was him!"
As Amanda was shouting back at Lee, Francine joined the trio, champagne flute in hand. By the looks of her walk and grin on her face, it seemed as if she had already partaken in several flutes of champagne by now.
"Well, well! What do we have here? Trouble in paradise, Mr. and Mrs. Stetson? Or should I say Mommy and Daddy?" Francine blurted out and then flashed her biggest mischievous grin as she took another sip of her libation.
Amanda's eyes widened as she looked at Lee. Lee suddenly began to retract away from Amanda. He knew that he was in trouble for telling Francine about the baby. He hadn't had the chance to explain to her why he had told her. He knew that Amanda finding out in this way wasn't good.
"Lee! You told her? You told her after I specifically asked you to NOT tell anyone."
Lee looked at the hurt that was written all over Amanda's face. Perhaps hurt wasn't the right word. Betrayal seemed to fit the situation better. Lee reached out for Amanda's hand.
"Amanda, I.." Lee began.
"Yup! Yup he sure did! He told me that you two have a little bun in the oven! Ha HA! Who would have ever thought! Not only did the great womanizing Scarecrow get tamed by a suburban housewife, but NOW he's going to be a daddy, too! That deserves a toast! I'll drink to that!"
Francine began to drink down the remaining champagne in her glass. Amanda pulled her hand away from Lee and stepped out of his grasping reach.
"Francine! It seems that you have done enough toasting for the evening." Billy scolded.
Dotty had been watching from the dance floor with Harry. She didn't know what exactly was going on, but she could read her daughter's body language from across the room like a neon sign on a pitch black night. She knew Amanda was upset. Harry had also been watching the situation but for other reasons. He could tell by the look on Billy and Lee's faces that there was something brewing.
"Why don't we go say hi to Lee and Amanda?" Harry suggested.
"Fabulous idea!" Dotty answered.
The couple danced their way over to the group. Dotty could sense that there was tension billowing off of almost everyone in the group. Everyone but Francine.
"Amanda, darling! We just wanted to come say hi and to see how everyone is doing tonight. Mr. Melrose, Francine…."
As Dotty greeted the crowd, she inched her way over to Amanda.
Billy caught Harry's eye. He could tell that Harry knew that something was up.
"Harry. Dotty. Enjoying yourselves tonight?" Billy questioned.
"Oh yes, Billy! We just thought we'd come over and say hello! I haven't had the chance to tell Amanda how gorgeous she looks this evening. Almost of beautiful as her mother! Of course I am a bit impartial!" Harry said with a sparkle in his eyes as he kissed Amanda's hand. Amanda smiled.
Francine rolled her eyes and muttered "Give me a break" under her breath.
Amanda's head snapped around as she came nearly nose to nose with Francine.
"What did you just say, Francine? You obviously are having some kind of problem with me tonight. I would love to know what it is!"
Amanda heard herself yelling at Francine. She could hardly believe what was happening. "It must be the hormones" Amanda though to herself as she felt white hot rage began to rise up in her throat. The others must have sensed it, too. Amanda felt Lee's hands on her shoulders pulling her away from Francine. Billy began to step in between the two women to help divert the tension. Dotty's eyes grew as wide as saucers. She had only seen Amanda get mad like that a handful of times in her daughter's entire life. It was something to not be taken lightly. Dotty didn't know what was going on but knew enough to stay out of Amanda's way.
"That is enough, Francine! Why don't you go take a walk and no more champagne!" Billy barked.
"Here, Francine…why don't we go take a look at the pastry table! There are some wonderful things over there!" Dotty said as she tried to remove Francine from the situation.
"Yes, Mother. Why don't you help her find something that she can shove in her mouth!" Amanda shouted after them. Her attention quickly turned to her husband. "And, you, Lee. I will deal with later!"
"Can we please get back to the matter at hand, you two?" Billy said.
"Billy, what exactly IS the matter at hand? I can tell that something is up." Harry inquired.
"You bet something is up! The crown jewels that were sent over to be on display at the Smithsonian have been stolen. We believe that the theft took place sometime in the last 24-hours. And Scarecrow just informed me that Nick Grant, a well-known jewel thief is not only here in DC, but is HERE at the embassy."
"Stolen as in missing or perhaps, misplaced?"
"Not misplaced, Harry. Billy was just telling us that the gems have been replaced with fakes. The Smithsonian verified the authenticity of the stones yesterday. The switch happened sometime within the last 24-hours." Lee said.
"Sir, if the embassy is legally considered French soil and the jewels were stolen while they were here, wouldn't that then be their problem and not ours?"
"Normally, yes, Amanda. But since the jewels were officially turned over to the Smithsonian at the time of inspection, then the theft happened on our soil and the issue is now ours."
"Where are the fakes now, Billy and how many people know about the theft?" Lee asked.
"They are upstairs in the safe. The Smithsonian thought they would be safer here for the time being. The settings are all original and still worth a lot of money. They brought them right over as soon as the fakes were discovered. As of right now, the only people that know are the four of us, Ambassador Reneau and the two gemologists that were overseeing the display."
"Billy, I know I am officially retired, but I would like to offer my assistance if you think you can use me. I still have some connections that I can use. Some of them are even at the Smithsonian. Why don't you let me and Lee go take a look where the jewels were stored and see what we can find?" Harry offered.
"I think that is a good idea, Harry. Scarecrow why don't you head over with Harry and see what you can find."
"Billy, what about Nick? Don't you think that I should stay here and get him to talk?"
"I think that Amanda can keep an eye on him. As long as he's here he's not out trying to fence the diamonds if he did indeed take them. Plus I don't want to tip him off that we might be on to him. Why don't you two quietly sneak out and Amanda, why don't you go casually chat up Nick and see what you can get from him?"
"Sir, what about his girlfriend?"
"Girlfriend?"
"Yes, Sir. His girlfriend is Sophia DuBois, the Pastry Chef-a pretty famous one, too."
"Is she here?"
Amanda looked around for Sophia.
"Uh, yes sir. She's right over there talking to my mother."
"I have an idea, Amanda. Why don't we give your mother a little assignment? We will tell her that we need her to keep Sophia busy and keep an eye on her. That should free up Nick so that you can talk to him and that will free up me so Lee and I can head over to the Smithsonian." Harry chimed in.
"Great idea! I will be happy to keep an eye on Nick." Amanda said as she looked at Lee. Lee clenched his jaw and ran his hands through his hair.
"I think it is a great idea, too, Harry. Do you think Dotty will be willing to help us out?"
"Are you kidding, Sir? My Mother will be more than willing to help. Not only will she be excited to be helping the agency, but she adores Sophia DuBois."
"Good, than it's all settled! Let's get to it."
Harry walked over to Amanda and whispered into her ear.
"I will go talk to your mother. Why don't you take a moment to talk to Lee? Don't walk away angry."
Billy walked away with Harry leaving Lee and Amanda alone. Lee took a moment to look at Amanda swallowing hard before he tried to speak.
"Amanda…..please turn around and look at me."
Amanda slowly pivoted on her heel, facing Lee but looking at the floor.
"Lee, I am so angry at you right now, I don't even know what to say. I specifically asked you to not say anything about the baby yet and you told Francine!"
"Amanda, please look at me and let me explain. Please?"
Amanda slowly raised her head and met Lee's gaze. He immediately noticed the tears that filled her eyes. Lee hated when he made Amanda cry.
"Amanda, I didn't mean to tell her exactly. She was making comments about you and your…well…your stomach and I couldn't let her make comments about you and it just slipped out. I was going to tell you but there wasn't time. Besides, why aren't you thrilled about the baby? Why don't you want to shout it from the rooftops?"
"Lee? Do you honestly think I am not happy about this baby? I am happier about this baby than I think I was about Philip and Jamie. Do you know how THAT makes me feel? I feel like a horrible mother for being more excited about one of my children than the others! And it also terrifies me! I want to wait to tell everyone until we are in the second trimester because the chance of miscarriage significantly declines after 3-months. I don't want to tell everyone in case…"
Amanda couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. She couldn't even think about the fact that with all pregnancies comes the risk of losing the baby. This baby had come to mean so much to her.
Lee held Amanda tight.
"Hey, hey….Amanda! Everything is going to be fine! I know it! I'm so sorry that I said anything to Francine. I am so happy about this baby and I knew it would upset Francine. I am sorry I upset you. And as for you being a horrible mother? Oh Amanda, nothing could be more ridiculous!" Lee lifted Amanda's chin with his finger and cupped her face in his hands. "You are an amazing mother and I know that our child, just like Philip and Jamie, will be the luckiest child in this world because it has you for a mother. Look at Philip and Jamie and what an amazing job you have done with them…..and by yourself at that! Please stop worrying about this. Everything is going to be fine. And…if it's not….we'll deal with that together. Ok?"
Amanda slowly nodded, her eyes looking at the floor. Lee leaned in and kissed her gently.
"I love you" she whispered in a low, hushed tone.
"I love you, too…My Amanda."
Amanda's eyes met Lee's and they both smiled.
"Well, it looks like you two made up! Ready to go, Lee?"
"Yea, Harry. What did Dotty say?"
"You were right, Amanda. She is beside herself! I am not sure Sophia will ever be the same after tonight!"
Amanda laughed. She knew Harry was probably right!
"Ok, be safe you two! I need to go find Nick and see what I can get out of him. Meet you back at home?"
"Yeah, probably about midnight I would guess. Call me on the emergency phone if you need me before then. And don't let Nick make any moves on you!"
"Hahaha! I will try my best!"
Lee and Harry casually walked into the crowd. Amanda saw her mother talking to Nick and Sophia. She really hoped that Dotty hadn't said anything about them being related. It would make things much easier if Nick didn't know that. Amanda casually walked over to the pastry table. Thankfully, Beaman had whisked Francine away a few minutes ago. Amanda grabbed one of the chocolate cream horns that her mother had eaten earlier. As she bit it, she understood why her mother reacted the way she did. It was a pregnant woman's heaven in a bit sized treat!
As Amanda drew closer to her mother and Sophia, she could hear her mother bombarding Sophia with all sorts of questions.
"So, what do you do if you have made this huge, fabulous cake and something happens to part of it when you move it…like it cracks or something gets dropped on it? Do you have to start all over again? One time, when I made a cake for the Ladies Auxiliary Club, I had to make it three times! It was a difficult cake to begin with, but I kept making mistakes!"
"That is actually a very good question, Dotty. Trés bien! That actually happened to the cake tonight! As I was putting it into place, I cracked one of the main tiers, so luckily, I had some extras. I took the broken cake off the table and replaced it. No one would ever know!"
Amanda chimed in on the conversation.
"Oh that is very interesting! Don't you think so, Nick?"
"Mrs. Stetson! How absolutely wonderful to see you again tonight!"
"Yes! Why don't we go out on the balcony and get caught up. That is if it is ok with Sophia."
"Oh, mais oui! Nicky, you and Amanda go have fun. I have to check on my cakes. The photographer will be here soon."
"Oh that sounds exciting! I would love to see you in action! I'll come with you!" Dotty exclaimed!
"Well then! Shall we, Dixie?" Nick said with a wink gesturing that they walk out to the balcony.
"I always did want to ask you where you came up with the name Dixie. Do I look like a Dixie to you? I always thought that I looked like a Sabrina or a Daphne, but not a Dixie!"
Nick gestured for Amanda to sit at one of the vacant café tables.
"So, Amanda, I want to hear all the details about how and when you became Mrs. Stetson!"
"Well, Nick…..funny you should ask…"
To be continued…